What a wonderful treat Fannie Flagg's newest trip to Elmwood Springs is. The characters we first met in WELCOME TO THE WORLD, BABY GIRL and got to know better in STANDING IN THE RAINBOW have aged, had more experiences both good and bad, but still maintain the small-town, folksy charm of Flagg's earlier works. The laugh-out-loud moments are many amidst the tears, the suspense, and the fantasy.

Norma Warren's aunt, Elner Shimfissle, who was a minor character in the other novels set in Elmwood Springs, comes into her own as the main character and the epicenter of an emotional upheaval in the little town.

While picking figs from her tree in the front yard, Elner accidentally disturbs a nest of wasps and is bitten to death. Or is she? Fannie Flagg takes liberal license with the heaven alluded to in the Bible, but it's all in good taste and puts a very personal spin on a place still quite mysterious to the living.

The best thing about this book is the characters, their obvious love for one another, and the close-knit feeling of community that Flagg captures with her razor-sharp wit and endearing charm.

Remember Tot Whooten from the Tell It Like It Is Beauty Shop? And Neighbor Dorothy with her fabulous radio show? Macky Warren, Norma's high school sweetheart and husband, and Dena Nordstrom, the cousin who was a high-powered New York executive? These and others have all returned and catching up on their lives is an experience not to be missed.

Along the way, the reader is actually told the meaning of life and given the formula for leading a happy and rewarding one. That's certainly more than I expected when I bought this book.

Another bonus is the yummy recipes mentioned in the book all appear at the end. They sounded so mouth-watering that I have Neighbor Dorothy's Heavenly Caramel Cake in the oven as I type this.

Our goal is to have 100,000 donated by April 1st. That is when the temperatures start getting over 100 degreesover in the Middle East.

This is an item the soldiers are really asking for.

The total cost to have one shipped over there is $5 bucks.

All donations are made directly to Soldiers Angels -a 501c3 Non Profit started by a soldiers mother who learned of too many deployed military personnel needs not being met. Many soldiers face combat with little or no family support. Her goal is that no soldier would go unloved.

We hope you will join us to show the world just what we can accomplishwhen we work together!

The total cost to have one cool scarf sentto a soldier $5 bucks.

Remember if people talk behind your back, it only means you're two steps ahead!

~ Fannie Flagg

Combining southern warmth with unabashed emotion and side-splitting hilarity, Fannie Flagg takes readers back to Elmwood Springs, Missouri, where the most unlikely and surprising experiences of a high-spirited octogenarian inspire a town to ponder the age-old question: Why are we here?

Life is the strangest thing. One minute, Mrs. Elner Shimfissle is up in her tree, picking figs, and the next thing she knows, she is off on an adventure she never dreamed of, running into people she never in a million years expected to meet. Meanwhile, back home, Elner’s nervous, high-strung niece Norma faints and winds up in bed with a cold rag on her head; Elner’s neighbor Verbena rushes immediately to the Bible; her truck driver friend, Luther Griggs, runs his eighteen-wheeler into a ditch–and the entire town is thrown for a loop and left wondering, “What is life all about, anyway?” Except for Tot Whooten, who owns Tot’s Tell It Like It Is Beauty Shop. Her main concern is that the end of the world might come before she can collect her social security.

In this comedy-mystery, those near and dear to Elner discover something wonderful: Heaven is actually right here, right now,with people you love, neighbors you help, friendships you keep.Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven is proof once more that Fannie Flagg “was put on this earth to write” (Southern Living), spinning tales as sweet and refreshing as iced tea on a summer day, with a little extra kick thrown in.